Bigthink - Idea Comments Feed

Comment on: A rare occasion of faith, reason and compatibility with science:

Bigthink — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:29:41 +0100

maybe myths modern or old stem from the same place... the need to see and understand our environment.. and therefore have a better chance of surviving in it?
is one coping mechanism superior to another?.. yes.
as for the specialness of life?.. given we don't know much, and are barely into the stars, we can at least say as of now, that life AS WE KNOW IT, is a kind of.. miracle! haha... couldn't resist.

Comment on: A rare occasion of faith, reason and compatibility with science:

Bigthink — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:34:58 +0100

musycks posted: 'Let's agree that from what we know life in any form in the Universe is a rare event... let's celebrate it's specialness'

I don't think that we can agree to that. We just don't know; we assume our specialness by FAITH.

And I don't agree with you about mythology. The stories are part of the human journey; they are the history of the human song; and they may better reflect who we are than the modern myths we currently tell ourselves.

Comment on: A rare occasion of faith, reason and compatibility with science:

Bigthink — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:45:09 +0100

Dear Coyote... Greek myths? the name I use should be a giveaway there..
not sure that any of the ancient myths indicate much except a yearning for 'other'.. trying to contextualise our human experience by the available tools of the day like stories and myths, the contents of which are not at all outside the range of the human mind?
Let's agree that from what we know life in any form in the Universe is a rare event... let's celebrate it's specialness and not demean it by the 'I am not worthy' type nonsense the mainstream pushes.
We are drawn by the sirens of Titan... as are we all.

ps. If people think an atheist can't write beautiful mystical trancendant prose.. try Kurt Vonnegut.

Comment on: A rare occasion of faith, reason and compatibility with science:

Bigthink — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:25:44 +0100

Musycks posted; 'Did Earth choose yes, please 'impregnate' me, and Mars play hard to get?!'

I don't know. Why don't you read some Greek myths: you may find your answer there.

It may be that the precise mathematical relationship of the earth to the sun is necessary for this Logos or song, or it may be that we may yet find the universe teaming with life. Give it the right amount of the right energy matter time space and it blossoms. We don't know that there is no life on mars or one of Jupiter's moons, but we are looking.

Comment on: A rare occasion of faith, reason and compatibility with science:

Bigthink — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:52:47 +0100

Again a beautiful idea with the notion of a special relationship between the sun and earth.. but it opens up a lot of questions. Why Earth and not Mars to set the conditions for sentient beings? Does that ascribe the idea of choice in the relationship? Did Earth choose yes, please 'impregnate' me, and Mars play hard to get?!
.. but as it's unknowable I feel, I would be agnostic towards this idea, currently.

I remember being moved by Arthur C Clarkes description of the dying Earth in 'Childhoods End', so these type of concepts hold a certain allure...

Comment on: A rare occasion of faith, reason and compatibility with science:

Bigthink — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:33:23 +0100

Very good! I purposely use 'Our Heavenly Father' because it resonates with the Christian heritage of our culture: most folks easily recognize this terminology. But as I have posted elsewhere, sex is unimportant.

How can you so easily assume an uncaring indifferent Sun, when self-conscious sentient life bubbles froths and boils BECAUSE of a very special relationship between this star and the Earth. A mere coincidence? A natural consequence of existence as suggested by Quantum Science?

The former is impossible, while the second implies a Logos. The local Logos is the Sun/earth relationship. The Sun screams out a song in many wavelengths and our mother earth has a history of spurting life because of her relationship to this Logos or song.

To argue that it is inconsequential that some of that life appears to be sentient, is to argue for impossible odds.

Comment on: A rare occasion of faith, reason and compatibility with science:

Bigthink — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:56:05 +0100

Hey Coyote,
Is the idea of a Father sun and Mother earth, while beautiful and poetic, another variant on the 'heavenly father' stuff? My thought is that the sun, like the universe is of itself, indifferent to our existance.. even though it is the thing that nurtures and sustains life here?

and it's not good enough to merely rate an idea and not expand on it.. to those who did... get in the game or stay out altogether.

Comment on: A rare occasion of faith, reason and compatibility with science:

Bigthink — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 06:30:42 +0100

I don't think it is good enough to merely rate this idea 'less interesting' unless you follow the link and ponder how a religion could be drawn from our understanding of the world, rather than our understanding-of-the-world be drawn from our religion.

I am offering an alternative that is very relevant to this discussion as it offers a 'third way.'

Please chew on it.